Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-01-Speech-3-130"
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"en.19991201.10.3-130"2
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"Mr President, I should like, first of all, to congratulate General Morillon on his excellent report. The Morillon report provides us with a good opportunity to discuss a European strategy for Turkey without beating about the bush.
I am sure we all agree that, in the European Union, no issue has been as controversial and given rise to as much tension and opposition as that of relations between the European Union and Turkey, and this is understandable, because Turkey has nothing in common with any other country involved in the enlargement process. The other twelve countries together create fewer problems than Turkey does alone: economic and social problems, problems relating to human rights, democracy and respect for minorities. In short, it has created problems of security and stability in south-east Europe by basing its foreign policy either on open violence, as in Cyprus where it continues to occupy the northern part of the island, or on the threat of violence, as when the Turkish parliament officially stated that if Greece exercised its sovereign rights in territorial waters in the Aegean this would be a casus belli.
The question of a European strategy for Turkey is basically quite simple. The European Union is not going to change for Turkey’s sake, but Turkey is going to battle to become a European country. Europe is not going to become Turkish; Turkey is going to become European. The European strategy for Turkey must make clear to the Turkish political classes and to Turkish society that there is not going to be a separate set of rules for Turkey and that Turkey must meet all the criteria set in Copenhagen and Luxembourg if its European prospects are to prosper.
The Union must make it clear in the run up to Helsinki that it should respect international law on Cyprus. The Union must make it clear that the integration process for Cyprus will continue, regardless of any form of blackmail by Turkey. The Union must ensure that all applicant countries, Turkey included, respect international treaties and international law and cooperate with neighbouring countries to promote peace, and that any disputes are resolved through international law and international judicial bodies, such as the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Yes, Turkey should become a member of the Union but it should leave violence, unlawfulness and autocracy outside Europe’s door and enter in peace and democracy. That is what the Turkish people want and it is what its neighbour Greece and its fellow citizens want."@en1
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